Issue 4, 2012

The electrocapacitive properties of graphene oxide reduced by urea

Abstract

We report a facile and green route to reduce graphite oxide using urea as the reducing agent. UV-Vis, XRD and XPS results revealed that urea was an effective reducing agent in removing oxygen-containing groups from graphite oxide for restoring the conjugated electronic structure of graphene. The obtained reduced graphene oxide was tested as supercapacitor electrode. Gravimetric capacitances of 255 and 100 F g−1 at current densities of 0.5 and 30 A g−1, respectively, were observed. The reduced graphene oxide paper showed a volumetric capacitance of 196 F cm−3. After 1200 continuous cycles of galvanostatic charge–discharge, the electrode retained 93% of its capacitance. The electrocapacitive performance of the urea-reduced graphene oxide outperformed most of the previously reported graphene-based electrode materials, which were reduced by hydrazine or NaBH4. The present reduction method holds great promise for mass production of soluble graphene-based materials for electrochemical energy storage.

Graphical abstract: The electrocapacitive properties of graphene oxide reduced by urea

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
26 Aug 2011
Accepted
10 Oct 2011
First published
03 Nov 2011

Energy Environ. Sci., 2012,5, 6391-6399

The electrocapacitive properties of graphene oxide reduced by urea

Z. Lei, L. Lu and X. S. Zhao, Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 6391 DOI: 10.1039/C1EE02478G

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